H Mart plots a new store near an Illinois college campus

Lyndhurst, New Jersey-based specialty grocer H Mart is ready to expand outside the Chicago area for its next Illinois location, as first reported by the Korea Times Chicago.

The new store will be located at 220 N. Broadway Ave., less than two miles from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus in Urbana, Illinois.

HMart currently has five stores  in the Chicago area, according to the Asian specialty grocer’s website and is looking to open the Urbana location later this year, according to the Korean newspaper.

Growth for H Mart, one of the largest Asian specialty grocers in the country, is also looking to take place on the East Coast as well. The grocery chain is planning to open on the Upper East Side of New York City, as reported by the RealDeal. Located between Second and Third avenues, the store’s 223 E. 86th Street location will add to the grocer’s growing presence in New York, which currently includes 12 H Mart locations.

H Mart did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the upcoming Illinois and New York store locations.

H Mart’s growth is also underway in New Jersey at 1 American Dream Way in East Rutherford. The grocer is currently hiring for all positions, according to the website. And earlier this month, H Mart deepened its West Coast presence as it opened its newest location in California, bringing the state's store count to 17. The new California location is now open at 3931 Irvine Blvd. in Irvine.

H Mart stores feature Asian groceries and housewares, fresh produce, meat, seafood, as well as food halls inside many of the supermarket locations. Established in New York in 1982 as Han Ah Reum (a Korean phrase meaning “arm full of groceries”), H Mart now operates over 75 stores in 14 stores across the U.S.